I had a dream which was not all a dream
by dodger-chan
Summary: I returned to school only to find the fluff demon was still lurking. And so, HisokaTsuzuki fluff. Somewhat of a sequel to PTKS. Extra points if you recognize the title.


Well, this is just some mindless fluff. I must have been in a good mood. Well, since I finally have internet again, how could I not be?

Dreams happen.

A person couldn't be expected to control the subject of his dreams. Not when the person was male and barely twenty-years-old. Not when the person was stuck with the body and hormones of a sixteen-year-old. He was young and curious; it would have been odd if he didn't have the occasional dream that was a bit…vivid.

Of course, it was rather embarrassing to have such a vivid dream when its object was sleeping not more than six feet away. He tried to will away his blush, reminding himself Tsuzuki was asleep, it was only a dream, anyway, and no one had actually made those noises. He failed. Miserably. Really, he had to expect it. Working with Tsuzuki again the blush was becoming as permanent a decoration as his scars, always present, if not always visible.

It had been irritating, but hardly surprising to find himself partnered with the idiot again. Tsuzuki hadn't gotten any better at keeping partners and with his lack of obvious power and less than affable personality Hisoka hadn't fared much better. Within a year-and-a-half, each of them had exhausted the supply of potential partners. Tsuzuki still held the record for shortest partnership, but Hisoka now had the one for most-violent-ending not-in-the-field. Not his fault. He'd told her he didn't like being hugged.

In some ways, it had been a relief when the secretary had told him he'd be working with Tsuzuki again. He wouldn't have to prove his worth and even though Tsuzuki usually ignored rules regarding personal space, he at least respected Hisoka's responses when those rules were broken. It had taken them about fifteen seconds to resume their old behavior patterns. Tsuzuki had taken one look at the case file and started raving about the best places to eat in that area. He'd smacked Tsuzuki over the head with his copy of the file and muttered the typical critique of the older man's intelligence. Tsuzuki had countered with teary, puppy-dog eyes, lamenting being stuck with a partner that was "so meeeeeean." Tsuzuki had picked the restaurant where they ate dinner and Hisoka had augmented the food budget with his savings. It was beautiful, nostalgic and almost fun.

Almost, because the problem that had left Hisoka begging Tatsumi-san for a new partner almost two years ago hadn't been solved. Hisoka still felt the painful, gut-twisting, one-sided attraction. It was quite a challenge to keep the feelings hidden. He could, though, and it wouldn't have broken their partnership if Tsuzuki hadn't known. Known and felt so much guilt at not being able to return Hioska's childish affection. Guilt Hisoka was certain to feel if Tsuzuki woke up and found him huddled embarrassed under dirty sheets.

Sighing quietly, Hisoka rolled out of bed. From an external perspective, it didn't look bad at all. If he flipped the blanket up, only an observant maid would notice anything. If she were a gossip as well, he might get a few odd looks from the staff, but nothing more than that. Hisoka stepped out of the shorts he'd been sleeping in. They would have to be stuffed into his overnight bag and he would have to bathe and then everything would be fine. Tsuzuki wouldn't question Hisoka being up and dressed before he woke up. Tsuzuki never questioned anything.

"Hisoka?"

It was always pleasant to have one's thoughts corrected in the early hours of the morning. Hisoka blushed and gathered the next day's clothes from his suitcase. If he could just make it to the bathroom….

"How long have you been up?" Hisoka felt his cheeks darken further. He hadn't meant to ask, hadn't even meant to speak.

"Not long. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Hisoka kept his back to Tsuzuki, hoping to hide the blush a little longer. "Go back to sleep."

"Nope. Not tired." Tsuzuki's cheerful tone didn't conceal his worry. "Why are you up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep anymore. I'm not tired either." It would have been a good act if he hadn't chosen that moment to yawn. Surrendering to the blush, Hisoka practically darted to the bathroom. He froze in the doorway, though, when Tsuzuki spoke.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Hisoka worked on seeing the shape of the toilet in the darkness, considering his answer.

"No. It wasn't bad. Just …vivid." Hisoka yawned again. He wished he could stop. When he'd first woken up he'd thought he'd had enough adrenaline to keep him up for a week and now he was tired.

"Ah…" Hisoka didn't dare turn to face Tsuzuki. From the sudden surge of embarrassment, it seemed to him that his partner had figured out his choice of euphemism. "Well, everyone has … vivid dreams from time to time."

"I know, Idiot. I'm fine with it, alright?" Hisoka felt his partner experience a small amount of relief.

"Then why don't you go back to bed?"

"I don't want to get back in bed." Hisoka carefully controlled his words, disguising his discomfort as anger.

"There's no reason not to. You had a long day and you need your rest. If you don't you'll be cranky in the morning and throw things at me."

"I will not be cranky!" Hisoka turned to face his partner and snapped. Barely, he kept himself from hurling the clothes at Tsuzuki. The older man smiled.

"I'm not sleepy. Take my bed."

"No."

"Hisoka," He felt the exasperation. "Pretend for a minute that I'm your senior partner and that you respect my judgment. Please."

"I don't have to pretend you're the senior partner." Hisoka grumbled. This was not an argument he could win; he'd known Tsuzuki too long to expect that. Come to think of it, there really wasn't a single argument anyone could actually win with Tsuzuki. His long lifetime had permitted the development of a spectacular stubborn streak. The best anyone could do was to try to distract the man.

"My partner is so mean!" Tsuzuki sat up in bed, unleashing the full power of his pathetic, puppy-dog whine. The shirt he was wearing slid down on one side, bearing just a bit of shoulder. Hisoka found himself wondering if Tsuzuki slept fully dressed when they weren't on a case.

"Idiot!" Shit, he hadn't meant to say that aloud; he'd been talking to himself. The wrong person was being distracted. Hisoka practically threw himself into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

"Hisoka, are you alright?" He could feel Tsuzuki's fear through the wood. Could practically feel the body heat of the man leaning against the door.

"I wasn't standing in the door for entertainment, Idiot." Hisoka slipped into the shorts. "I really did have to use the bathroom."

"Oh." The word held so much hope. Hisoka flushed the toilet to cover the pretense. He thought he heard something under the sound of rushing water. A clockwise spiral pulled into the pluming. "Ne, Hisoka?"

"What?" The toilet was slow to fill with water. Streams beat against the porcelain bowl creating a ringing echo in his ears, enhanced by the tiled walls. Hisoka opened the door to relieve the sound. Tsuzuki practically fell onto him. From surprise or force, the air fled Hisoka's lungs. He gasped, "Idiot."

"I'm sorry." Tsuzuki's regret was all but masked by fear. Panic. Hisoka stalked to the bed and sat on its edge. He scowled at his partner.

"Well?" Although he had meant to snarl, Hisoka's voice came out breathy.

"I didn't mean to." Fear and confusion peeked from Tsuzuki's mind.

"Not that, Idiot." Hisoka rolled his eyes. "You were about to say something."

"I was? Right." Hope bubbled up, with apprehension on its tail. Another night on the Tsuzuki roller coaster of emotions. "It was just that, maybe, well…not if you don't want to, that is-"

"Spit it out."

"Can we be partners again?" Hisoka's ears were ringing again.

"What?" Tsuzuki couldn't be serious. Working together again? Spending more time in each other's presences? Long dinners? Nights in cheap motels? Hisoka felt his face flush and tried to dismiss his slightly less than wholesome thoughts.

"I miss working with you. I wouldn't try to be anything other than a partner I promise." Tsuzuki interrupted Hisoka's thoughts.

"I don't know if that would work. The reasons I had when I asked Tatsumi for a new partner are still val- would you repeat that last sentence again?" Tsuzuki's words had once again failed to fully register in Hisoka's mind. Well, he didn't intend to be playing 'catch-up' for the entire conversation. "You wanted to be something other than a partner?"

"You didn't know?" Tsuzuki gaped, horrified. He hadn't meant to reveal anything Hisoka might find discomforting. "I thought that was why you didn't want to work with me."

"Tsuzuki," Hisoka sighed. "I think it's your turn to call me an idiot."

"Why? You're not an idiot, Hisoka." Tsuzuki hadn't quite caught up.

"Alright. I'll go back to being your partner. But," Hisoka glared at Tsuzuki, "only on one condition."

"Anything."

"You better try to be more than a partner." Confusion welled up.

"You'd want that?" Tsuzuki wanted to believe it, feared to believe it. Hisoka nodded. "Than you dumped me because-"

"I didn't think you were interested." Hisoka looked away, embarrassed. He had wasted two years of their afterlives on something as stupid as miscommunication. The emotions from Tsuzuki, however, weren't quite resentful.

"Idiot."

What were two years when faced with eternity?


End file.
